Educationalist Voice 12

Julian Barrell – Innovative Teacher and Tutor

Julian Barrell is a teacher who likes to do things differently. He is keen to change the way all learning experiences are valued, and writes about creative approaches to inform innovation and change in education.

He spent twenty years mainly teaching in primary schools but now tutors for a charity that caters for 7-25 year olds who are unable to access mainstream education.

Why Are You Interested in Progressive Education?

I first became a primary teacher over 20 years ago, which was not really an expected career choice. I personally found school really tricky from an early age and would often kick up so much fuss as my mum tried to drop me off, that my teachers would ask for me to be taken home.

As a child I would spend hours playing with Lego, programming my Commodore 64 or making things light up with wires and batteries. When I became a teacher my main aim was to try and provide my class with something that the younger version of me would have looked forward to on a daily basis, not something of dread.

Learning Through Immersive Experiences

Following a visit to Little Bealings School to find out about their Mantle if the Expert approach, during the early stages of my career, I was really able to bring my teaching to life. I formulated narratives for my lessons to follow (although subsequently my approach has been questioned as to whether it was really Mantle of the Expert), such as helping Brave Dave the Cave Explorer or looking after seven naughty baby elephants.

I could see that children in my class were learning through immersive experiences and even invented my own method of online assessment, back in time when Facebook was still very novel. As data was being increasingly introduced into the classroom, I could not see the point on reporting a generic level of learning unless a point of data could be clicked on and linked directly to what an individual had done in class, in whatever form.

My PPA (Planning Preparation and Assessment) time was often spent editing video clips of group reading sessions, which not only included my group introduction illustrating what was being taught, but also resulting discussions and individual pupil focus. Having spent time doing this for each child in my class (When I had managed to streamline processes I could realistically achieve this every two weeks), the platform I had invented allowed me to maximise the value of my work by providing a direct window into my teaching which could be shared with parents, management and the children themselves, whilst linking directly to attainment judgements and the curriculum. Ultimately I realised that the system would really come to life if administered by the children themselves who could upload and reflect on their own learning as they went along (this worked really well during cave adventures and exploring deep sea wrecks).

Launching My Online Assessment Platform

After discussing my idea to a friend, who liked the concept, I left fulltime teaching and together we launched an entirely web based version at the BETT show in 2009.

During the first year we seemed to make a really positive impression with comments such as ‘This is the most innovative way I have seen to prove the value of education.’

The second year at BETT, schools were more interested in using the system to evidence APP (the latest Assessing Pupil Progress government initiative). So we adapted the system to provide an interactive assessment sheet that would provide relevant stats as well as a live link to evidence.

The final year, the government had changed and the key focus had shifted to ‘… but this won’t help children pass there SATS’.

Throughout this time I was increasingly depending on supply cover to sustain an income as the system struggled to cope with changing assessment requirements and teachers using their latest iPhones to upload ultra high definition evidence. Eventually it got to the stage where I had to return to full time teaching.

For a brief time I taught students excluded from mainstream, however the establishments where I worked suffered badly from ill thought out restructuring initiatives, so I returned to mainstream. This lasted for three years, however, the academy I worked for was continually introduced new ‘evidence based’ initiatives and I really struggled teaching ever changing methods, in ways I did not really believe in.

Moving On from Mainstream: Putting Individual Needs at the Heart

As I left fulltime teaching the first time around, a colleague complemented a class who he took over, saying they were ‘Fantastic blank page thinkers’: “You could give them a problem and a blank page and they would formulate their own plan and work on a solution.”

Sadly we are now training children to fill in blanks on sheets of paper that have been prepopulated by people who have their own agenda and often aren’t as intelligent as they might like to think.

Currently, I am working for an organisation that teaches children who are unable to access mainstream education. I am now very content working for an organisation that requires me to put individual learning needs at the very heart of what I do.

I have written blog articles based upon my past teaching and how my ideas were implemented. I feel that although my ideas have not come to much in the past, they are totally worthless if they only exist in my head. They are mostly aimed at outlining issues and suggesting solutions, rather than a generic moan about education, which is all too common.

I now shy away from thinking too deeply about education. This question initially referred to 21^st Century skills, I guess it all depends on who’s vision of the 21^st Century we are aiming to fulfil.

In Your Opinion, What are the Main Challenges of Our Current State School System?

The main challenge with education, in general, is that everyone has had one, in one form or another, and everyone’s perception of what makes for a good education is different. Because of this there is no one approach that is correct or best. It will depend on who the education is aimed at and what it’s overall purpose is.

Currently there is no flexibility in the increasingly overcrowded curriculum space. One major element that is dangerously overlooked is the ability for children to learn through play and exploration. Possibly due to those currently overseeing curriculum content coming from a highly academic mind-set and maybe losing touch of who they were as they grew up and what made them tick during childhood.

When I was younger, learning maths and English was made more bearable knowing that if finished work set by my teacher, I would then have time on the carpet to explore my own personal interests, playing with the class Lego set or having time to choose another activity.

Currently a child finishing their work in good time is a sign that more challenge is required in order to achieve a greater depth in lessons being taught. I’m not sure how a younger version of me would have coped with this, I had so many other things I wanted to get to grips with. I have a strong feeling that this lack of balance is currently at a dangerous level and one of the causes of increased childhood mental health issues.

What are State Schools Doing Well?

Having daughters who are 9 and 11 and currently able to cope with everyday academic pressures that exist with regular testing and assessment to meet standards, I do feel that they have gained a far greater understanding of maths and English than I did at their age. (I have just discovered how amazing my youngest is at recalling her times tables. I also know how very competitive she is in all she does).

Having had to teach the mechanics of grammar myself, I am now able to understand punctuation far better than I ever did and feel that this has been of personal benefit (although this is probably an age thing, I don’t think I would have felt the need or motivation so much as a child).

It does however, make me feel sad that as time has progressed, both daughters have evolved from being very keen in class, following their teachers intently and being quick to get involved with their hands up, to increasingly finding lessons all rather dull and boring. Luckily school does still provide a host of other opportunities, outside of regular lessons that instil motivation.

Towards the end of her primary years my eldest daughter, having heard about the way I used to teach at the beginning of my career, would say “I wish we could have lessons like you used to do,” and deep down I wish so too. With all the focus on standards and assessment, something magical about teaching has been lost.

If You Could Make Changes to the State Education System, What Would Be Your Top Priorities?

The balance needs to be readdressed. Government initiatives have increased standards within their narrow focus, however, there needs far more room to explore and develop individual skills and interests and at an early age, the flame is very often lit through play.

The whole process needs to be broadened out and democratised to provide opportunities for learning to exist and flourish in all its forms. My blog post titled ‘A Universal Blueprint For Infinite Learning.’ outlines a possible concept that could be used to inform learning. Ultimately I believe there should be a platform that allows anyone, with a will to contribute, to outline their own learning pathway, that anyone could follow. This may be ‘Maths by Carol Vordaman’ or ‘The History of Civilisation by Dr David Starkey’. State funded education may well recommend or even make certain pathways non negotiable.

However, there should still remain freedom for an individual to pursue their own pathways, even if they choose something like ‘The History of Civilisation by David Icke’. Which could then be directly linked and contrasted with other pathways.

Follow Julian Barrell

You can follow Julian’s blog here, as well as on X:

Some additional blog posts by Julian, that have not already been linked to above include:

Why is the Dinosaur next to a Chicken – The way we assess learning needs to evolve.  

Teacher vs Celebrity Chef – Why the nation is passionate about potatoes but perplexed by pupil progress, and why this really matters.

Shiver-me-timbers, Time to Cast Off Centralised Curriculum Models – A Meaningful Learning Revolution Is On The Horizon!